Trump Makes One Demand in the Senate Leadership Fight

by

The battle for the Senate Majority Leader post continues to rage this week with a vote scheduled on Wednesday.

Among the handful of Senators putting their names forward, only Rick Scott of Florida seems to be the preferred favorite among MAGA faithful and advisors closest to Donald Trump.

While Senator John Thune of South Dakota openly warned Trump to stay out of the majority leader race, the President-elect weighed in on Sunday putting forth one key demand:

The three top candidates, Thune, Scott, and Senator John Cornyn of Texas were all quick to echo Trump’s sentiments according to The Hill:

Scott immediately embraced Trump’s view on recess appointments, writing on X, “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

Thune and Cornyn took a more measured approach but still stressed the importance of getting Trump’s picks confirmed and installed in their offices.

“We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s nominees in place as soon as possible, & all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments. We cannot let Schumer and Senate Dems block the will of the American people,” Thune wrote on X.

“It is unacceptable for Senate Ds to blockade President @realDonaldTrump‘s cabinet appointments. If they do, we will stay in session, including weekends, until they relent. Additionally, the Constitution expressly confers the power on the President to make recess appointments,” Cornyn wrote on X, before citing the section of the constitution granting the president to fill vacancies while Congress is in recess.

Despite Thune or Cornyn being the early favorites in this contest from the start, it didn’t take long for some of their unsavory tweets about Trump to begin surfacing and circulating on X:

Cornyn’s past indiscretions aren’t quite as bad as Thune’s:

Thune was also one of a handful of Republicans who said Trump should withdraw from the race in October 2016 and let Mike Pence take over:

This isn’t about destroying either man politically speaking, Thune and Cornyn will be mostly reliable votes moving forward for Trump’s agenda. This time around, in Trump 2.0, it’s about finding competent loyalty within the halls of power and not letting any crucial decision fall to the powers that be for the sake of not upsetting the apple cart.

During the first Trump administration, far too many Republicans in the House and Senate were willing to jump ship or toss Donald Trump overboard at the slightest sign of pushback. Beyond even the worst of the Russian collusion hoax, that mentality is what really slowed things down as ruling-class Republicans felt like they could still ingratiate themselves with the media somehow if they just kept quiet or spoke out against the leader of their own party.

2024 is not 2016 and Trump-world is not willing to play go-along-get-along with factions of the GOP that aren’t all in on the mandate the American people delivered on November 5.

Even figures like Elon Musk are getting in on the fight and openly pushing Rick Scott’s name as the best option:

 

Donate Now to Support Election Central

  • Help defend independent journalism
  • Directly support this website and our efforts

Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

Email Updates

Want the latest Election Central news delivered to your inbox?

Previous

The Trump Deportation Plan: What We Know so Far

Next

Trump Bans Two Major Names From His New Administration

Election Central is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com